Since many of the patients in a health-care institution, such as a hospital or a nursing home, may have open wounds or may be highly susceptible or vulnerable to infection-causing bacteria, it is imperative that the bathtubs in those institutions be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized each time they are used so that the patients will not become infected. Unfortunately, complete sterilization of bathtubs is a time-consuming task. All of the surfaces of the tub that the patient may contact, or that may be in contact with the water, must be brush cleaned. Soaking in a germ-killing solution is not enough.
The present invention provides a low-cost contamination prevention system which obviates the need to sterilize a bathtub each time it is used. With the uniquely constructed and easily installed system of the invention, it is impossible for any bacteria to be transferred from a bathtub to a patient, even though the bathtub is not sterilized. By the same token, there is also no way for bacteria to be conveyed from that patient to the bathtub.